Monday 22 December 2008 19.01 EST
First published on Monday 22 December 2008 19.01 EST

International human rights groups and local politicians have condemned the first hanging for more than a decade in the tiny Caribbean country of St Kitts and Nevis as it emerged that the executed man had not exhausted his rights of appeal or had legal representation.

The execution last Friday of Charles Laplace, who was sentenced to death in 2006 for killing his wife, comes amid growing enthusiasm for the death penalty in the English-speaking Caribbean after a lull in executions since 2000.

The government of St Kitts and Nevis, which has a population of 40,000, said on Friday that it had carried out the execution with "resolve to deal with the issue of crime and violence in this country", adding that there were no outstanding applications or appeals in the case.

But lawyers and politicians have expressed outrage at an apparent lack of compliance with due process. "This man was executed in a bizarre set of circumstances," said Mark Brantley, the opposition leader in St Kitts and Nevis.

"Despite suggestions of a serious mental imbalance and the fact that he had sacked his lawyer for launching his appeal out of time, he was hanged within a very short space of time."

Further questions are being raised about whether a mercy hearing for Laplace complied with the standards required by the privy council - the court formed of the UK's law lords which is the highest court of appeal for many former colonies.

"The circumstances of this execution are shocking," said Saul Lehrfreund, a human rights lawyer and executive director of the Death Penalty Project.

"Anyone with legal representation would naturally utilise all available appeals if they are facing the death penalty. It appears this man was effectively executed without having been informed of his rights."

News of the execution comes as governments in the Caribbean struggle to combat unprecedented levels of drug-related violent crime. St Kitts and Nevis has experienced a one-third increase in murders this year, while Jamaica has seen more than 1,200 murders despite having a population of only 3 million.

Experts say there are signs that support for the death penalty in the Caribbean will only increase. A global moratorium supported by the vast majority of UN general assembly members last week remains opposed by the entire English-speaking Caribbean.